


The Phantom Runaway

by Purpledragon6



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Adopted Children, Danny has a LOT to sort out, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 04:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13516761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpledragon6/pseuds/Purpledragon6
Summary: A shocking reveal and a HUGE misunderstanding leads Danny to run away from home in search of answers. When he finds himself turning to unlikely allies for guidance, the boy will have to learn just how many shocks his heart can take before it's too much.





	The Phantom Runaway

It started with her-

Or rather, it started without her. As he waited for her outside the Amity Part movie theater. At first he thought she was late, that was at Eight when they had promised to meet up... Then he waited, and waited, while thinking of every logical and non-logical reason that she might have been late. Eventually, he found himself unable to withstand the cold from outside, and sat inside the warm lobby of the movie theater on his own. Eventually, he gave up on waiting for her to make it to the 8:30 showing, and entered the viewing room on his own. The movie didn't really catch his attention, but it was a way to pass the time while waiting for Sam actually show up.

The movie ended at ten, and Danny decided to just return home from there.

That should have been just a minor inconvenience. He was old enough now that his parents had extended his curfew, so the only thing that really should have been bothering him was Sam being late for a date, and even that was something he should have been able to just put away from his mind for the next time he saw her. It should have, but today had been a long da- No. This whole week had been long and grueling. It had dragged on with the weight of a well kept secret about a double life stapled right in the foreground of it all.

"Just one more thing to add..." Danny muttered, his cold hands searching refuge in the depths of his jean pockets.

There were days that the world seemed so against the half-dead teen. Even if it wasn't really, he couldn't tell on those days, his lack of tolerance and general lack insomnia left him far too tired to even think about things clearly. On those days, he would sometimes just wander the town on his own two legs, trying to waste some energy and hopefully find some sleep for the night.

"Its almost the weekend... This'll pass and-" He stopped, looking up briefly at the thin wisp of fog that fluttered in front of his face.

For a moment, the cold of the fall air had ceased to be a factor, and his heart stilled in his chest. Relief quickly took its place, when he found that the fog wasn't his ghost sense, and was instead just a normal reaction of warm breath on cold air. The street were unusually quiet of activity, but he was grateful for that, as he really just needed a bit of rest before his next fight. There was only so much of THAT he could take in one week.

"Fall break is coming up- I've got that to be positive about." He went on, trying his hardest to perk up a bit.

By the time he looked at his watch, any amount of perk he had to him had rushed away from him. It was almost 11 at night, and he had half a days worth of energy still left in him, and was out WAY later than he intended to be. Surely, this would result in quite the earful from his parents, who were just NOW trusting him with a longer curfew... He really had been a bit happy, for the most part, just at the beginning of the night, but now he was just beyond that healthy point of teenage stress. When he made it to his house, he was so tempted to just climb into his bedroom window using his power of flight and avoid running into his parents.

"Nah... They'd be even more peeved off if I snuck back in..." It was against what his gut was telling him to do, but instead of listen to it, he chose the front door.

Bad idea...

"DANIEL JAMES FENTON!" His mother's shrill, but worried tone, hit him full force upon his entering. "Where on God's green earth were you!? Do you have any idea what time it is!?"

"I'm sorry... I was just-Getting stood up..." Maddie's worry seemed to return ten-fold for a second at her son's tone, but as his words sunk in, all that worry turned to annoyance.

"So, it was just a date!" Jazz butted in before she also added in. "At least you weren't out doing drugs or something."

"Jazz- Shouldn't you be in bed?" Maddie sighed, turning her attention to her oldest child.

"Yeah, but-" Jazz was cut off by Danny, who moved passed her tiredly, seemingly hoping that her cut in would be enough of a distraction for him to sneak away.

"Yeah... A date with Sam" He spat out in response to his sister. "Look... I lost track of time and I'm really-"

"Well, you should have come straight home when your curfew came!" Maddie shot in, some of her anger ebbing away after Jazz's cut-in. "I almost called the police!"

"I'm sorry... I just went for a walk afterwards." Danny sighed, rubbing his eyes gently in an attempt to clear them of their quickly increasing weight.

"Honey, we'll can talk about this la-" Her were suddenly cut short.

It seemed as though the three were about to go their separate ways for the night, to let off at least some among of steam before anyone spoke out again. It seemed that way at first, at least until Jack suddenly came up from his lab in the basement, with a big ray gun of many sorts pile up in his arms.

"Hey, Danny-O, look at this baby; The Fenton Extra-Polater." Jack introduced the gun with a wave of the arm. "This baby decelerates the cells in a ghost, reversing the age process until they disappear! At least thats what its supposed to do."

"Yeah yeah... Thats nice dad. But I'm really not in the mood." Danny muttered, about to go upstairs when Jack suddenly grabbed hold of his arm.

"Aww, whats wrong? Things not go well with that Sammy girl? Well, I know what thats like." For a moment, Danny almost felt a little relieved, that was until his father kept talking. "So you know what cheers me up? Hunting ghosts!"

"Yeah- I think I just need some sle-" Danny was suddenly yanked towards the lab door by Jack, still happily yammering on and on about the new ray.

"-And thats how I came up with this ray to destroy the ghosts an-" Jack's voice cut out, Danny being too tired to bother with attempting to process it.

His arm hurt from being pulled, he was still in a bad mood about Sam, and his bed was just begging him to take advantage of the lack of activity and get some sleep! His limbs and eyes were already heavy, which was guaranteeing him a night without insomnia for the first time all week. He just had to get away from-

"Dad, just stop with your obsession with hunting ghosts for once!" Danny was so annoyed that he didn't register what he had just said.

"Excuse me?" Jack stopped, releasing Danny's arm gently.

"Just for five minutes, would you go without them!?" Danny groaned, the weight of the week crushing whatever self restraint he had stored up from his walk and pep talk.

"But they're all just menaces. Stupid, ectoplasmic, wastes of space." Jack had no idea the cords he was striking in the physically and emotionally exhausted ghost boy. "Especially that Danny Phantom. I mean, sure hes saved us a bunch of times and all, but-"

"No. He is not, he is a good ghost who just gets the crap end of the stick!" Danny shot back, wanting to save at least half of his dignity tonight before retiring to his bed. "When will you realize that? The next time he saves your life and looses a butt-ton of sleep over it?"

"Son, I used to say that all the time when I first started out in ghost studies." Jack said, placing his ray-gun down on the ground and shrugging. "But if you're anything like me, you'll eventually realize-"

"Well, maybe I don't want to be like you then." Danny replied, rubbing his face with his hand tiredly. "Good night, dad."

With that, Danny turned on his heels and sluggishly attempted to not fall asleep right in the middle of the room. He could feel his dad's frown burning onto the back of his head, but he opted to not let it bother him too much. He needed some rest and then he'd be ready to deal with anything.

"Whats the matter, son?" Jack spoke up suddenly. "You're usually not like this-"

"Because I already know that I'm right about him." Danny sighed, "We're both just two guys who needs the world to leave us alone for a little while."

"What?" Jack gasped at his son's words, seemingly hurt just from his son sounding so stressed out. "But Dan-"

"I'm just tired..." Danny assured him, now leaning against the wall. "Its been a long week, and something just added to it. I'll be fine."

"Somethin- Do you want to talk about it?" Jack asked gently, reaching out and putting a hand on Danny's shoulder. "I was a teenager like you once, I'm sure I know a bit of advice or so for whatever happened-"

"I don't think you'd have advice for everything." Danny muttered back, trying to end the conversation before he said too much.

"I know you like the back of my hand, son." Jack smiled kindly, gently directing Danny in the direction of the kitchen. "I'm sure I can help you out with whatever this is."

"Or not..." Danny sighed doubtfully.

Within seconds, he found himself seated in a comfortable kitchen chair. The clock on the stove read 11:23PM, but he knew that it was off by a few minutes. Still, it wasn't midnight yet, and that meant he still had a chance to get to bed at a proper time. So long as this was the only interruption in his journey to his bed. Quietly, he watched Jack fix two bowls of cereal for them both, and felt a smile stretch across his tired face when his was set next to him.

"Thanks, dad." Danny sighed, taking a spoonful of cereal just to be polite.

He really didn't need a cereal-induced sugar rush THIS close to sleeping.

"You're welcome, and now, how about you tell me whats bothering you?" Jack asked, taking his own spoonful of cereal.

"Its nothing... Just a long week." Danny assured him for the second time that night.

"Danny, I know you better than that." Jack said, though his tone gave away just how unsure of that he was.

The younger man sighed heavily, dropping his spoon into his bowl and wracking his brain on how to respond to that. His dad wasn't going to let him leave without reassurance that he really was okay, but could he really deliver a lie well enough to do that at this point? Dishonesty would just add to his stress, and he really didn't need that, and he was also beginning to think that maybe talking a few things out would make him feel a little better-

"I just don't feel like myself lately." He half-lied. "I feel like I'm being stepped on and lied to a little more than usual."

That wasn't a full lie, actually. He wasn't ALWAYS himself, and lying was something that had been popping up quite often in his life ever since he became a half-ghost and began ghost hunting. Yeah, that explanation was vague enough to hopefully push the conversation towards an advice point but was also honest enough to take a bit of weight off of Danny's chest-

"Lied to?" Jack cut in, his tone suddenly turning suspicious. "By who?"

"N-No one! Just... Sam said she would meet me at 8, and mom said we would talk about things later and we're STILL talking about things right now-" Danny was cut off by Jack, whose expression change from suspicion to worry.

"Things?" He asked, his tone more uncertain than ever.

"Just me being late getting home, and this week." Danny said, slowly pushing out his chair and standing up.

"Danny, you're never like this." Jack said, standing up. "I think I know what this is really about."

"Dad, theres no way YOU could-" Danny cut himself off, not wanting to raise any further questions right now, or at any point. "Look, I'd really like to get to bed."

"I'm your father. I know you like I know th-" Okay, Danny had just about enough of this conversation.

"Trust me! You don't!" Danny yelped, once again JUST wanting to get some sleep. "I really just need some sleep. I don't want you to tell me that you know what I'm going through, because I know you've never been in this-"

He stopped, not wanting to say too much to his dad. All he needed was to let it slip that he was Danny Phantom and that would either lead to the conversation dragging on much longer or worse for him... It was starting to seem like it was too late for that, when Jack's eyebrows suddenly knitted together, but what Danny wasn't expecting was when his eyes began to tear up just a bit. Either from being yelled at, or-

"You're right about that..." Jack sighed, standing up and going over to Danny. "There are situations you'll go through that I'll never understand..."

"Dad, its not-" Danny stopped, suddenly pulled into a tight hug.

"And some of them are things I wish you didn't have to experience-" Jack went on.

"W-what? Oh, come on dad! This isn't a big deal." Danny sighed, trying to wiggle out of the hug. "Look, this isn't anything to get worked up about."

"Dan-"

"Look, if I can trust you as my dad, then try to trust me as your son when I say that I'm just having a long week." Danny said, taking a deep breath.

"Danny..." Jack finished, suddenly rubbing the back of his head. "Sit down."

Danny froze, surprised by the sudden seriousness in Jack's tone. Against his better judgement, he sat down, followed by Jack in his own chair. The atmosphere in the room became so thick, that Danny was sure he would choke on it if someone didn't speak soon.

"You're my son, and I've known you since the day you were born. I watched you grow up, and taught you just about everything I know and now- Now you're old enough to stay up later, so-" Jack paused to clear his throat.

"Dad-"

"But, I want you to trust me completely as your father, and I don't want you to feel like I'd ever keep anything from you... I'm not sure if you know, but even if you don't, you deserve to know that-"

"Dad?" Danny pressed, his earlier fatigue suddenly replaced with a feeling similar to his ghost sense startle from earlier.

"THIS isn't easy for me to say, but-" Jack was cut off once again, this time by Maddie poking her head into the room.

"Whats going on?" She asked, seemingly sensing the atmosphere of the room.

"Maddie, come sit down." Jack said solemnly, turning his head to surely give her a look that was just out of Danny's line of vision.

With it, her face fell and her skin faded to white. Stiffly, she nodded her head, and walked into the room. It was obvious that there was a type of understanding between the two, and the teen was itching to know what secret was waiting to be added to his list of things that would crush him.

"We weren't going to tell you until you were older, but I guess we can tell you now..." Maddie sighed, sounding a bit sad, but mostly tired.

"M-mom what the heck are you two talking about!" Danny gasped out, feeling his head spin a little as he tried to process what he didn't know yet.

One second hes waiting for Sam at the movies, then hes walking home, got yelled at, tired to go and get some sleep, and now hes sitting in the kitchen with so many knots in his stomach as his father took a deep breath, about to reveal something that he hadn't known and probably didn't even WANT to know. It was all so much to take in- but he was going to have to make room on his plate, because the world was about to kick him down once again, only this time with a twist.

"Danny, you are our son..." Jack began, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "I don't know how to tell you this, but... Some time ago, you're mother and I adopted a baby... You.. You were that baby, and lately you've been so stressed out and secretive with us- We didn't want to keep anything from you, and we didn't want you to think that you couldn't come to us with anything either-"

Jack's words were lost to Danny again, though this time it was caused by his whole world shattering at once, and not from lack of sleep- Screw sleep at this point, it no longer existed to him.

"D-dad! Come on, thats crazy! Mom-" He paused and looked to his mom for any indication that this was a joke. "Guys, come on, you don't mean tha-"

"Danny, I wish we were." Maddie sighed, about to go to her son to embrace him, only for him to pull away quickly. "I know this is sudden... But-"

"You were-" Jack began, but was suddenly cut off by Danny.

"I don't want to hear it! You're right its sudden!" Danny yelled, feeling a mix of his earlier shock and overwhelming stress suddenly return to him. "I was just upset because of the week- I just don't know what now! Why didn't you tell me this!? Why now!"

"We didn't know if you'd be able to handle it. We thought we would be able to hide it bu- " Maddie paused and chose her words carefully. "Danny, you know we don't like keeping things from you..."

"Well, I-" He suddenly got interrupted by a shrill noise coming from in the lab.

Danny went pale-er than before, clapping a hand over his mouth before his ghost sense went off. The sound came in much louder now, causing all other noise in the room to cease. After a few seconds, it went quiet again, and a stiff Danny suddenly felt his legs dashing down the stairs with a new found rage pulling him along. Rage that wasn't from Sam standing him up, his parents big reveal, or their words against the Phantom. He knew that sound anywhere, and it was the sound of a capture ghost. That would be the straw that broke him finally-

"I-I can't!" He exclaimed suddenly, rushing away from the table and bolting for the stairs.

He couldn't stay there, he couldn't continue that conversation, or fight another ghost, or-

"Danny!" Maddie called after him, her voice sounding torn between going after him or making sure the ghost was properly taken care of so it wouldn't hurt anyone else in the house.

"I'll get it, Maddie. You get Danny." Danny heard Jack call to her, and he picked up his pace, really not wanting to talk to her right now.

He rushed into the room and grabbed a stray black backpack and quickly went through his room, packing it up with anything he felt he would need for the night. His bed was forgotten as he packed, but he didn't have time to think about that, as Maddie's gentle knocks were suddenly heard. Taking in a breath, he zipped up his bag and headed over to the window and opened it up.

"I'll go to school tomorrow... Tell Sam and Tucker... And then-" Without thinking of what else, he climbed out onto the ledge between his window and the ground. "Going ghost."

Taking a deep breath, he leapt from the ledge, before taking off into the air.


End file.
